Tip of the Iceberg
by Introvert-Dragon
Summary: Meet Hiccup, a sarcastic drop-out who's unable to go outside his room after an incident that no one really figured out. Meet Astrid, a very straightforward and blunt college student hired by Stoick to convince Hiccup to go outside and connect back to the world. Is Astrid really the one capable of helping Hiccup move on his past or will Hiccup just end up driving her away. Hiccstrid
1. Chapter 1

**Modern AU Prompt:** Person A, used to be a very sociable person who suddenly isolates himself from the world after a certain event that no one really knows. Person B, is hired by Person's A father to convince, befriend, find out about his problems so he can start connecting back to the world. As the two get to know more about each other, they slowly grow attached and develop feeling for each other. But there are issues holding them back and uncertainties they need to overcome.

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 **A/N: Hello there guys! IntrovertDragon here presenting you another Modern Hiccstrid story. This one though will be a short story ranging from 4 to 5 chapters.**

 **A little bit of warning, there will be things that will be a little bit vague, It's intentional to sort of give the readers room to ponder about the story or backstory.**

 **Remember, I'm still new to this writing thing and English is not my first language. Also, I'm still doing some experiments on my own with the writing style so feedback are really appreciated.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD.**

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 **Chapter 1**

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"You're still here? Seriously... you can leave, just leave." Hiccup groaned, pulling the blankets to cover his face trying to ignore the unwelcome presence of another human being.

"Uhm... Sorry but I can't do that." Astrid said, politely - with her practiced brightest smile and enthusiasm.

"Oh I'm sure you can - you have two functional feet and my door is very excited too meet you right now." Hiccup answered, voice dripping with sarcasm.

 _Okay Astrid. Breathe... act patient you're working right now - be professional - remember this is your job. You signed up for this..._

Astrid stood up straight after letting out a sigh to introduce herself. "My name is Astrid Hofferson, a college student and I'm her-"

"Yes... Yes... you're here to _Help me,_ Strange-person-whom I-never-met" Hiccup cut her off, emphasizing the 'Help me' part.

Astrid could feel her brow twitching and her face slightly lose composure. _Okay... nothing out of expected. Patience._

Astrid raised her shoulders, letting out a sigh. "Well, I'm glad that you are already aware of my incoming visits so we can start working on getting you better." Astrid flashed her bright smile once again.

Hiccup still on his bed, sits-up straight to look at her obviously annoyed with her presence. " I'm telling you, This is not the first time my father tried to get me outside, socialize, and go to college like a normal 20 year old boy usually do."

Astrid was about to open her mouth but Hiccup raised his hands to interrupt her, He stood up from the edge of his bed, walking towards his desk to grab something. Astrid watched him curiously as he seemed to be writing something on a piece of paper. Once he was done though, He walk towards her standing and presented her a pay cheque.

"It's not gonna work, so stop wasting your time... So here's the deal whatever you signed up with my dad I can pay you _double_." Astrid glared at his direction, then glared at the cheque on his hand - she thought about it for a second, she really needed money that's why she took this weird job. But her pride won't allow that, there's no way she's just gonna give up and It's not part of her dictionary to lose or back out to a challenge.

How dare he! Who does she think Astrid is. If you wanna play that game.. so be it, She's just done acting polite.

Astrid slapped his hands with enough force sending the cheque flying somewhere in the room. "Listen, I just want to get this job finished as much as you do so we can both live with our lives, so why don't you work with me here. As much as I need that money and how tempting it is to just leave seeing how you're not really making things easy... I don't take shit from people, so I'm afraid I have to decline the generous offer."

Hiccup appeared surprised with her sudden change of attitude, looking at her incredolously, with mixture of amusement and disbelief then shrugs. "Fine... suit yourself but you, Miss are playing a dangerous game..." His playful tone even struck more of Astrid's nerve.

"I'd rather take my chances..."Astrid rolled her eyes, walking around his ridiculously large room. She looks around to looks for something like a old toy, picture, or anything she can use as a leverage to get Hiccup to start taking and open up to her so she could start working on his case and get the hell out of his place even if she had to drag this Hiccup outside by herself. But she knew she is just annoyed and would rather settle this properly and plus, his employer or father won't allow that.

"You can stay here forever if you want, just don't go on snooping on my things and disturb me from my work or whatever..." said Hiccup, flopping down on his couch turning on the television.

"-And stay out of my computer desks..." Astrid ignored him, She noticed something sticking out under one of the computer desks in his room.

It was a picture. _Jackpot!_

Astrid picked it up not heeding Hiccup's warnings about snooping. She tapped the picture a couple of times in her palm, rubbing the surface with her thumb too see it clearer as the picture was old and quite dusty.

It was a picture of a skinny, lanky boy in his early teens wearing a tuxedo and a bright gap-teethed smile. After she was finished looking at the picture, she felt like something is missing in the picture when it came to her it was torn in the middle... violently torn actually. She looked around the floor hoping to find the other half and surprised that it was actually on her feet.

"I told you not to-" Hiccup warned her again but it fell on her deaf ears.

She picked it up removing the dust quickly, more excited than she admits to see the other half. It was a picture of a beautiful girl with wild strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes, She noticed the girl was wearing a extravagant gown and a homecoming queen crown, She smiled at the picture, somehow reminded of her highschool days.

Then it came to her that it was a _Prom Picture when_ she connected the picture like a puzzle piece and it came to her the lanky boy and the homecoming queen were actually holding hands.

Someone grabbed her shoulders making her yelp a little, she turns around and suddenly frozen in place when she saw Hiccup eyeing the picture(s) in her hand, emotionless. For some reason seeing how his face suddenly paled and how deeply lost in his own thought Hiccup looked was heart-wrenching and made her feel a little guilty.

"Hiccup...?" Astrid asked, cautiously.

"Please... leave." Hiccup muttered weakly, his voice tight.

"Hiccup, you can tell me, I'm here too help..." Astrid answered back, treading lightly.

"Give me that." Hiccup snatched the picture from her hand crumpling it which made Astrid winces.

Astrid swallowing thickly - decided to try once again, not understand why though she insists on trying. "Hiccup...I ca-"

"-I don't need your help." Hiccup answered shortly, his voice sharp.

Astrid knew she's pushing her luck seeing how Hiccup is on the edge of snapping. "Try me. You know I'm a good listene-"

"-Can you do me a favor and just leave me fucking alone!" Hiccup snapped, voice freezingly cold.

Astrid was silenced, frozen in place taken a back by Hiccup's outburst. She really should leave right now... she's overstepping her bounds but her feet refuses to listen to her during that moment.

"Why can't everyone see that I don't need help!" Hiccup's voice weaker, but not any less intense.

"My life is fine... I have money to live for the rest of my life and I don't exactly have any problem with having friends and I don't really need physical friend, I can do what I want in this room, where I could actually be myself and just do things that I actually want and lov-" Hiccup's voice falter he doesn't finish the sentence.

Hiccup now looked at her in the eyes. "Those partying stuff, malling, hanging out or whatever _'_ _Living the life'_ and luxurious shit the _Kardashians_ or whatever shitty stories the Television are showing people nowadays." Hiccup pointed to the glass wall gesturing the 'outside world'.

"It's not for me!" Hiccup turned around his back facing her, fist clenching tightly, closing his eyes, taking continuous deep breathes. Astrid can't help but notice how heavy his slumped shoulder looked like from behind.

Hiccup faced her again, his face appeared lost and distant. "I-I'm sorry for snapping at you... I didn't mean to... It's just that-"

"-Nevermind... I just need sometime alone... you can stay if you want but just don't bother me." Hiccup said apologethic heading back to his bed hiding under the temporary comfort of his blanket can provide.

"It's fine... I was overstepping my bounds...sooo, I'm sorry too." Astrid said, meekly still recovering. "I probably should go..." She muttered weakly but she doubt that Hiccup heard her. Just before she exits the room, she notices the crumble picture on her feet. She looked back at Hiccup, then picked up the crumpled picture digging it into her pockets before she left the room.

As soon as Astrid left the room, She let out a long drawn sigh before heading towards stairs to make her way out of the mansion. Stoick looks at her sadly- She shood her head, bowing her head before she headed home to think about everything that just happened.

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Astrid groaned twisting on her bed clutching tightly her 10-years-old-blue-dragon-stuffed-toy she named Stormfly, forcing herself to get some sleep. She seriously needed to sleep, But her brain decided to keep on processing things that she couldn't possibly hope to get even a wink of sleep. She still has her daily training tomorrow morning with the upcoming tournaments and after that she has 5 hours of boring lecture and then after class she has a part-time job.

Oh yeah... a Job she was not sure anymore. A very weird Part-time Job - Even if it involved things like convincing some spoiled 20-year old brat with a weird name Hiccup to go outside the house, But the pay was really good and who is she to question blessings given to her so she went ahead and took it.

When Astrid took this job though... it was supposed to be some easy job, Like how hard it is to convince a people to step out of their home.

But the moment Astrid stepped into the room... she was surely not expecting things to be like this. Well... first of all is this place even qualified to be a room? It's basically almost as large as her home and it's like whoever-she-is-supposed-to-convince has everything planned out for ragnarok or his whole life.

She expected it to be a dark messy room void of life like the ones they show on television. A room infested with trash bags, instant noodles stack everywhere, can or bottle of soft drinks and beer on the floor and a horrid smell most of all.

Instead, the room was really bright - ceiling filled with multiple rows of LED lights plus the natural sun-light coming from the glass walls, the room was air-conditioned making the temperature adequate and the environment in general has a chilling atmosphere. There is a music playing in the background but not too loud for the whole neighborhood to listen... Well it's not like they have any neighbors when you are living in a mansion like house.

There are multiple televisions playing as if updating himself on the news of the so-called 'Outside World'. He also had his own miniature kitchen set with everything on it... from a granite counter and a oven machine.

She noticed certain corner of the room with everything covered in a dusty white-tarp but she didn't pay too much attention to it. The place has it's own fridge, and surprisingly a Tread-mill, a Stationary Bike and some weights, dumbbells she guesses for his physical therapy - as she was informed that her client was a amputee.

But that was not the problem and no one really figured out why this guy suddenly stop going out and start shutting himself out for months now. Stoick told her that his work requires traveling and lots of business meeting and he was usually outside the town so she knows just as much as his father does about this case. According to Stoick, His son used to be a sociable the last time he seen him and never really stay put in one place always out hunting for something to do.

Last but not the least, she was once again proven wrong when she expected Hiccup to be sulking somewhere in the room with nothing to do in life... something like those she watched on a Japanese documentary before, _H_ _ikikomori_ or Reclusive adults - something like that.

But when Astrid slowly and cautiously walked into the center of the room she didn't expect Hiccup to be actually busy multi-tasking talking to someone on his phone tucked between his ears and shoulders while he appeared to be working something in his ridiculously futuristic computer. He occasionally spinning his computer chair moving to another computer then another.

She also didn't expect him to be quite on the skinny-side... no offense but his father is quite a large man. Astrid basically already had her own image of what Hiccup would look like based on his horrible name and his father's appearance. He had a overgrown hair that was sporting a messy pony-tail that could definitely use some hair-cut and he was wearing a green sweater that looked soft, clean and comfortable not some over-sized rag not qualified to be called a shirt which was not washed for a long time.

Hiccup didn't seem to notice her enter the room until she yelped loudly when she felt something nudge on her legs. It was just a dog... Odin! He even had his own dog! At least she assumed it was a dog. She never saw anything like it before, the creature was around the average size of a dog, it had a black furry skin and bright green eyes that showed some intelligence - looking at her with it's head tilted.

That's when Hiccup shifted his computer chair to her direction before his face paled, slapping his hand on his forehead groaning, muttering something she couldn't hear. He mumbled a apology to whoever he was talking with on his phone. Then he stood up from his chair crossing his arms looking at her with confused, disbelieving eyes. He shook his head violently, rubbing his temples, heading toward his bed stumbling a couple of times and proceeds to sleep and completely ignore her existence.

Then the next thing, she didn't know it was his cue to make her leave then he was asking her to leave him and... Things went sour with her snooping around.

It was just a part of her... Everytime she entered a place or barges in, she just took over things with her commanding presence - classroom, court, sports field. It always worked for her - She's Astrid Hofferson.

Well not this time... But it did somehow, sort of, it just had a different effect. Astrid remembered Hiccup's reaction earlier because she seemed to hit a sensitive subject.

She couldn't help but notice something with the weird way Hiccup reacted when he first noticed her presence. He looked pained, confused - a little out of sorts then all of a sudden heading for his bed - he must have mistook Astrid for a different person - come to think of it the girl in the picture sort of had a blonde her like though not golden blonde like her and blue eyes surprisingly which she had as well.

Astrid grabbed the damaged picture on the desk beside her bed turning on the lamp and stares at the picture, She can't help but wonder what's the story behind the torn picture. Hiccup looked so young and different back then, and yet he looks so bright and his green eyes full of life... The picture looks old and according to Stoick, it's only been months since he last came out of the house.

The girl must've been someone important to him... It might be the key she needed for Hiccup to open up and get her job done.

-Wait a minute. Is she still seriously thinking about going back there... to Hiccup and convince him? Convince him go out of his room and help him out when he blalantly said to her that he doesn't need help.

She should just take up his offer, get payed twice and they can go on mind their own business. She needed the money right? Unfortunately, she's not that low or desperate to take someone's money when she knew that certain someone needed help maybe he just doesn't see it for himself yet.

Why was she even thinking about this now... as far as she's concerned she has bigger problems in her hand, like the reason she needed the money in the first place, to pay for her college or she might as well end up like Hiccup, who's a dropout but for a completely different reason she hasn't find out and needed to figure out soon.

Although her agreement with Stoick assures she will be compensated fairly regardless of the outcome... Her pride wouldn't just allow her to take money on something she didn't work for or failed to finished.

Astrid finally decided, she's going to take this as a challenge, finish the job and she's not gonna lose to Hiccup.

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The next day she was surprised when Hiccup greeted her. _Sarcastically Greeted_ her when she entered the room as if he was not expecting her to come.

"Afternoon, M'lady. Where have you been?" Hiccup greeted from his couch, his arms stretched wide his 'Dog' on his side helping itself with Hiccup's popcorn while watching a movie on his ridiculously large television.

Astrid raising a brow at his weird behavior... completely different from yesterday. Atleast it something she can work with, It's a start she guess?

"Good Afternoon to you too Hiccup." Astrid greeted back, trying to act casual.

Hiccup paused the movie, standing up in front of her scratching the back of his neck. "Erm... about yesterday - I'm really sorry for snapping at you. It's just that you know..." Hiccup sighed, pausing attempting to open his mouth a couple of times.

"You're just doing your job... and I don't know what came to me yesterday." Hiccup looked away sheepishly. "So I'm sorry again for yesterday..."

Astrid was really taken a back by this different Hiccup. If she was being honest it was partly her fault for pushing him too hard to get him to talk, She was actually the one who snooped on her things and went on with his business and here he was genuinely apologizing.

"To be honest... I was overstepping my bounds too and about the picture it was obviously a sensitive topic...and I kept on pushing." Astrid admitted, lowering her head.

The tensions was awkward, her eyes glances on everywhere but Hiccup, Her eyes lands on the paused movie, It was Avengers and she probably knows the movie like the back of her hand recognize those characters from everywhere.

"Is that Avengers you're watching?" Astrid randomly blurted out.

Hiccup looked at her weirdly before he answered back. "Oh.. yeah it's the third sequel it's not actually out yet but I know someone from Marvel and it's not really piracy I sort of have some contribution to the movie as well-"

"-Really!? You mean that's the third Sequel! As in the the one to be shown next year!?" Astrid answered excitedly, genuinely interested, immediately clamping her hand to her mouth, she had to mentally slap herself for showing too much excitement. How can she not though? It's the movie she's been waiting for years and it's no secret from her friends how she nerds out when it's about Avengers.

She heard Hiccup snickered, feeling annoyed that Hiccup was laughing. "What!? do you have any problems with me liking Superhero movies?"

"Nothing, you just like you just got your early Snoggletog Present." Hiccup commented, amusedly.

Hiccup still looking at her, incredulous. "Okay... Erm- I mean I didn't expect that you would actually be a fan of Avengers."

"Yeah... me too." Astrid said a little embarrassed. "It's a funny story... how my bestfriend's boyfriend basically just influenced me and my bestfriend then it just happened."

"Cool." Hiccup answered shortly shrugging. "Reminds me of someone I used to know..." Hiccup muttered weakly. Astrid felt like she was not supposed to hear that last part.

(Pregnant Pause)

"So... I was just starting - only a few minutes in the movie - You wanna watch with me and Toothless? I'm sure he doesn't mind replaying the movie." Hiccup offered.

"Yes, please!" Astrid beamed, once again letting excitement get to her. Hiccup snickered once again, She threw a punch in Hiccup's arm playfully immediately pulling her hand regretting her action. She was about to apologize but Hiccup seems be fascinated by her action and doesn't mind it at all.

"Sheesh... woman watch the violence." Hiccup joked slightly shrugging his shoulder, he politely moves to the left side of the couch gesturing to the right side offering her a space.

Astrid was surprised at how natural Hiccup handled the situation. A small thought entering her mind pondering if it had something to do with the woman in the picture but was immediately buried by the anticipation of being able to watch Avengers.

To prevent herself from hopping in excitement, Astrid walked slowly making her way towards her spot on the right side of the couch. Plopping down the couch greeting the dog on the center of the couch with much energy. Hiccup offered him a bucket of popcorn which she gladly takes, she thanks him and Hiccup nods back in response.

When Hiccup finally plays the video, The Avenger's Icon appeared and Astrid can't stop rubbing her palms with too much vigor trying to contain her excitement.

"Just tell me if you need anything els-"

"-Sshhhh! Quiet Down!" Astrid silenced him weakly, her eyes unmoving completely focused on the Movie.

Unbeknownst to her, Throughout the entire Movie, Hiccup couldn't help but look at her every time she claps excitedly, cheer at the superheroes especially when she called Thor her 'Babe'. His eyes was filled with mixture of longing and amusement as he watched the movie with her or rather watched her, It's been a while since Hiccup had a content smile on his face, Astrid was just so persistently, cheerfully infectious that he can't help but be happy just being with her.

Unlike any other of those who tried to _Help him._ Astrid was different... she didn't run off with the money like the others did. She's also the first one to comeback for the second time even if Hiccup had practically snapped on her and drove her away. Maybe, He could get used to that.

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 **Okay, so honestly how was it? As you guys noticed I've been writing only one-shots so far and It's been a while since I last wrote a multichap story so I decided to give it a shot again. This will be a short-story somewhere from 4 to 5 chapters. I'm still working on the chapters maybe a weekly update if I don't experience and writers block or sorts.**

 **For those who are following me: I am forever grateful that you guys like my work. So I decided to try my best to post one-shot a week(No guarantees but I'll do my best to meet it.) So if you ever have some Ideas preferably Hiccstrid, feel free to send me a message and I might work on it. :D**

 **Anyways, I got some couple Ideas in my mind for now and I curious which one would you like to see next.**

 **1\. Modern Reincarnation AU set in College Life.**

 **2\. CEO Astrid and Secretary Hiccup it's a bit of a humor/drama where they don't really have any official relationship then Hiccup sends a resignation letter and things happen.**

 **3\. Notice me Senpai! AU. (PLEASE DON'T KILL ME) Ruffnut dares Astrid to read some Shoujo Mangas and let's just say Astrid finds herself in a similar situation in one of those cheesy romantic japanese teenagers stuff when she meets a mysterious senior named Hiccup.**

 **4\. A world where everyone knows about the Perfect Royal Engagement of Prince Hiccup and Princess Heather. They are like a Real Life fairy tale lvoe story, even Astrid had to admit she's shipping them and she mets this mysterious guy (OF course it's Hiccup.) who seems to disagree with her and things go on from there.**

 **The list could go on but I feel like these are the ones that I could work on at the mean time. Remember feedbacks motivate the author, so Review, Follows or Favorites are really appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A:N: 10 reviews, 19 favorites, and 35 followers for the first chapter. You guys are amazing! So here's an early(ish) update for you guys!**

 **This chapter is all about Hiccup's subconsciousness, and awkward tension. So a bit of a slow chapter but a necessary one but hey it's going to get better as their relationshion gets more- you know...**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize.**

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 **Chapter 2**

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When Hiccup woke up the next morning, the sun was shining, the terrible birds are chirping, and surprisingly his Dad didn't make any attempts to give him the 'Talk'.

Hiccup stretches his arms, groaning in relief as he felt his back release some stress. Toothless who was snuggling on his thigh was awoken by Hiccup's movement. The dog seemed to notice the different energy Hiccup has around him tilting it's head looking at his master weirdly.

"Good morning, Bud." Hiccup scratches Toothless back playfully. Toothless twists showing his belly deciding to take advantage of his Master's bright energy around him. Hiccup chuckles but obliges anyway scratching Toothless belly with both of his hand making Toothless' feet happily kick in the air, his tongue lolling sideways.

"Anyway Bud, does it seem to you that the Sun is shining brightly today?" Toothless shifts his head towards the glass walls then looks back at his master shaking his head which means 'No'.

"Weird huh, Bud - I guess I just have to wear my glasses again... maybe it's just my minor Astigmatism." Hiccup stands up from his bed, Hiccup shivers a little feeling the cold air touch his skin, He grabs the Air Conditioner Remote to lessen the temperature.

Hiccup yawns, crossing his arms looking at the Multitude of Television in his room for his daily updates.

Televisions 1: The prices of Bludvist Corporation per stock dropped significantly by 79.6% this quarter. There are rumors running around the market that it's CEO Drago Bludvist is involved with severa-

"Looks like we made the right decision not to invest some of our money there, Bud." Hiccup scratches his chin, satisfied with the decision he made then his eyes moving on to the next television.

Television 2: For today's weather forecast, there won't be any unexpected downpours-

"It's not like we're going out of the house anytime soon, right Bud?" Hiccup tilts his head slightly, then Astrid came to his mind all-of-a-sudden - weird though his mind seemed to accept the Idea that someone's is going to be invading his room once again. Hiccup unconsciously smiles at himself, shrugging his shoulders heading towards his miniature kitchen to grab some breakfast.

Hiccup sets his cereal bowl down in the granite counter facing the Television(s).

Television 3: For today's horoscope, According to the stars alignment, Pisces, those who are born February, 19 to March, 20 - are expected to find love your _true love_ within the wee-

Images of strawberry blonde girl and blue eyes enters his mind without permission - Hiccup switches the channel immediately, as if rudely interrupting the Horoscopist.

Complete Non-sense. It's not like he's believed in those stars-alignment stuff anyway.

Why is Hiccup even too affected by those stupid horoscope anyways, he doesn't understand but it just got on his nerves all of a sudden. Hiccup sighs, Well there goes his bright day ruined by a stupid Horoscope.

Hiccup losing his appetite disposes the content of the bowl in the sink. Toothless nudges him in his good leg giving him a stink eye for not sharing the left overs.

"Sorry bud, I don't wanna ruin your diet by feeding you Human food, you're already picky enough." Toothless huffs in response then pushes his own bowl with his nose signalling that it's feeding time.

"Oh yeah, Almost forgot - What time is it anyway." Hiccup stands up grabbing the large sack of Dog Food placed on the side of fridge, kneeling down to quickly fill Toothless' bowl, while Looking at the Television playing the news channel searching the bottom part of the screen for the time /date / weather.

 _9:08 am._

Hiccup feeling down, sighs. Still Five more hours before Astrid's visit...

Wait a minute, did he just... Look forward for her company? They only watched Avengers together which he had to admit was a nice change with Astrid being so cheerfully infectious and... Damn now those Horoscopic non-sense are corrupting his mind manipulating the stars sending laser beams into his brain making him think like this.

Okay that os just soo... Weird stuff even for him. He's just... Damn, he doesn't really understand what's going on his mind right now. It's like he's going back to being happy-sociable-make-friends-with-anyone-filled-with-hopes-and-dreams Hiccup again.

It was like before Camicazi.

Then his mind suddenly ponders how Astrid is achingly similar to Camicazi... From her Blonde hair... blue eyes... and both being tough girls who resorts to little violences as their playful sides... But there's something about Astrid yesterday that made him feel something he hasn't felt in a long time.

No way. He's gonna allow that to happen. He promised himself his never going through all that pain again...

Hiccup's suddenly overcome by nausea and headache, Headaches that triggers whenever he's reminded of his past and _Camicazi._ Why is he having this headaches attack again... Hiccup thought he was over that stage.

He drags himself to the bed stumbling a couple of times - frantically grabbing his blanket yearning for the comfort, solitude it somehow manages to give him, drifting into half-sleep.

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Hiccup jolts awake from his half-sleep, feeling shivery and goosebumps all over his skin. His breathing is slightly ragged, and his chest is thumping heavily. Worse though is that it's another one of those dreams he has no recall or anything even if he tries hard to dig his brain out for information, but fragments of it on the back of his mind and vague feeling of temporary happiness relating to things he couldn't possibly experience.

Hiccup groans and attempts to shut his eyes as tightly as possible hoping to drift back to that dream, but it doesn't work. Feeling regretful for having to wake up, twinges of shallow happiness lingering on his chest. He just had another one of those dreams people pray for before sleeping hoping to have a temporary peaceful time in your own world. Only that he didn't pray for it... It's most likely from his subconsciousness.

Basically it's like the closest thing he can get to paradise. Ever since Hiccup started losing his confidence and stop connecting himself from the world... Those dream were one of his ways to escape reality. IT's lame and He's fully aware of his cowardice choosing dreams over reality and if he was given a choice to he wouldn't hesitate to stick to one of those dreams a million times.

 _What the!?_

"Cami...?" Hiccup trembles, his eyes playing tricks on him maybe it's his foggy state. His mind is hazy and vision is still blurred, unconsciously his hand reaching out for the Blonde Hair but pulls out the last moment.

Hiccup sits-up straight, shutting his eyes tight- shaking his head to rid himself of his illusions.

 _Inhale, Exhale._ Hiccup opens his eyes and she's still here. Camicazi is here... in his room sitting at the edge of his bed just within his grasp.

And he's officially not having delusions... He was not prepared for this, Why did she decide to suddenly show up again.

"W-What are you doing here?" Hiccup asks, voice weak.

The Blonde turns around to face him. "Excuse me?" The Blonde Girl questions back, confused.

Hiccup's eyes widen, realizing that it was Astrid. "N-Nothing... I was just seeing things." Hiccup chuckles nervously. This is the second time she mistakes Astrid for Camicazi.

How stupid of him to even think that Camicazi could possibly want to do something with him _again_.

"Are you okay... You look pale. Are you sick?" Astrid asks.

Hiccup still dazed, rubbing his palm between his eyes and forehead.

"Yeah...I mean No, I'm not sick just a bit.. dizzy from waking up." Hiccup says trying to sound convincing, exaggeratedly yawning, making up excuse, he really don't want to talk about it but was obviously not doing fine job at that.

 _No I'm definitely not okay, you just resemble my EX-girlfriend and almost lost it because I thought she was suddenly barging in my life again._

Astrid looks at him weirdly, unconvinced. "Okaay..." Astrid shrugs, turning back to the television.

Hiccup let out a sigh of relief when Astrid seems to understand him. She looks like she had a lot of questions, based on what happened the first time they met Hiccup knew Astrid can be quite pushy and persistent.

 _Just like Camicazi..._

Hiccup looks away from her, feeling guilty for comparing Astrid to his Ex.

"Are you gonna ask me to leave?" Astrid asks, facing the television.

"NO!... I mean I'm not..." Hiccup answers, "Please don't..." Hiccup muttered under his breathe, uncharacteristically nervous, scared and anxious. Why is he acting like this again... It's like he's regressing and he thought he was getting better and worse is someone is here and he doesn't mind her to be with him... He feels like- He doesn't understand but her presence is somewhat somehow comforting him.

Gods, he need to get a grip of himself.

Astrid twists to face him, "Good, I don't plan to and you can't make me this time."

Hiccup still feeling down, manages to smile weakly at her before he sighs letting go of some stress and negative emotions.

"Anyways, I took a Cup Noodle without your permission earlier when I felt hungry." Astrid says, sheepily.

"Yeah, sure no problem..." Hiccups shrugs, moving up and settles on the edge of the bed.

"Plus an egg." Astrid added.

Hiccup immediately checks his miniature kitchen, a little worried something have been messed up. His kitchen isn't particularly the most common one and it's not really accident-proof there based on his personal experience.

"Don't worry I didn't use your kitchen."

Hiccup looks at her, confused. "You ate the Egg raw? Aren't you going to get salmonella or something?"

Astrid snorts lightly. "No silly, I mixed it with the Cup Noodles it's basically as good as cooked."

Hiccup looks at her, more confused. "Cup Noodles and Raw Eggs?" Hiccup grimaced.

"Hey! It's actually really good you should try it, it's like you know a budget ramen."

Hiccup chuckles, this is nice... He's feeling good again just something about Astrid being just plain infectious and maybe a refreshing change to his lifestyle.

"What are you laughing at?" Astrid scoffs.

"Nothing, If you were that hungry you could have woken me up." Hiccup says, voice half-yawning.

"You looked like you were having sweet dreams and I couldn't bother waking you up."

Hiccup sighs. "Yeah..."

"Wanna talk about it?" Astrid asks, very cautious this time.

Hiccup nervously chuckles, "Erm... let's talk about other things... Like you know, how was your day, or other normal outside world stuffs."

Astrid looks at him, quizically. "Okay..."

"So... Yeah, Shall we start - you know... working on my case?" Hiccup says.

"So you finally figured that you're not getting rid of me-" Astrid jokes.

"-so might as well get over it." Hiccup finishes for her, shrugging. "I don't know you're kinda different from all the other that tried to 'Help me' so far..."

"It's because you don't really meet a lot of people." Astrid answers.

Hiccup huffs. "It's not like people would be thrilled to meet All..." He pauses gesturing all himself. "These."

"No seriously, You just need to meet more people-"

"-Oh trust me, I've met my fair share of people." Hiccup counters reactively, immediately regretting it as his tone sounded a bit rude. He really should learn to control his mouth, just like his father always tell him how he always gets in trouble because of it.

Astrid opens her mouth to retort but decides not to, sighing in submission. "If you say so."

(Pregnant Pause)

"Sooooo..." Hiccup starts, more mindful of his tone. "You're the sociable person between the two of us. Any idea how is this conversation is supposed to go on?" Hiccup says, a hint of joking in his tone.

Astrid shrugs. "For starters, I don't have any idea myself how is these supposed to be going on." Hiccup looks at her with a raised brow before she continues. "Well, to be honest when I took this job, I was like you know... how hard it is to convince someone of the same age as you to go outside... I was expecting like and empty dark boring room with no life." Astrid pauses gesturing to his room. "Not all these Ragnarok-Proof room that's basically as big as my house. Plus, you know what happened in our first meeting."

Hiccup chuckles making Astrid glare at him. "What!?"

"Nothing. You seriously just remind me of Camicazi." The words slip out of his mouth, He immediately pales realizing what he just said.

Astrid looks at him obviously confused. "Who is this Camicazi by the way, she better be a awesome person."

"Ah..." Hiccup felt his throat go dry.

"You don't have to tell me, _yet._ "

"Nono. She's just an old friend." Hiccup lies, maybe not... It's not entirely false... They were over and there's nothing between them anymore... Old friends. That's all they are now, _Old friends._

Astrid looks at him, "Okay... Old friend huh." Then her face brightens. "I have an Idea. Maybe we should play a game, Twenty-Ten Questions turn by turn."

Hiccup looks at her bright smile, before sighing. Once again Astrid is infectious as ever that he can't help smiling back, Hiccup pauses thinking for a second... Why not? "Well, do we set any grounds rules or anything for this game of yours?"

"Nothing really, just the basics questions, nothing too personal or touchy that's all." Astrid answers. "I figured we practically are strangers, and if we're gonna see each other a lot might as well get to know each other."

"Very well then, since it's your _Idea_ \- go ahead ask first." Hiccup shrugs, sitting up straighter. He would't mind knowing more about Astrid either.

Astrid nods, tilting her head slight placing a thumb on her chin. Hiccup unconsciously thought how she looks pretty when she's frowning like that. He gazed at her moving pink lips far too long not hearing the word coming from it. He didn't notice he was staring at her until she waves her hands in front of his face.

"Hiccup? Are you listening?" Astrid looks at him with an arched brow.

"Oh... yeah sorry, foggy wake-up state. What was it again?" Hiccup breaks his gaze looking away, feeling his cheeks burn a little.

Astrid looks at him, weirded but brushes it off anyway. "I asked; What's your favorite food."

"Hmmm, Instant noodles." Hiccup answers after thinking for a few moment. "I'm not really picky when it comes to food but Instant Noodles is the one that comes into my mind when I feel like eating or hungry."

Toothless let's out a grumble of distaste at his answer. His best friend always hated Hiccup eating Instant Noodles, but he was not sure though if it was because it was not healthy for him or Toothless doesn't get to beg some whenever Instant Noodles was on his menu. Well as much as Hiccup liked spoiling Toothless, feeding him artificial food won't do him any good.

"I see..." Astrid bites her lip before nodding, She looks to be processing his answer as if trying she's trying to decode him or something. But that lip biting definitely looked _hot._ Hiccup has to shake his head violently to remove stupid thought clouding his head. He doesn't even understand what's going on his mind right now. Quick, think of a question before she gets more weirded out.

"Ermm... what about yours?" Hiccup blurts out, his voice a little panicked. "Erm.. I mean your favorite food!" Okay it definitely did not work as Astrid looks at him quizzically.

"You're acting weird. Well, weirder." Astrid shrugs, "Anyways... Is that your final question?" Astrid smiles at him, amused.

Hiccup feels the corner of his mouth rise up along with her smile. He wonders though if her smiles is only to appear polite in front of him... He hopes not. "I didn't know we are playing _Who wants to be a millionaire._ Aren't I supposed to be the one getting answers? turn by turn right?" Hiccup says, the panicking feeling completely gone.

Astrid snorts in response. "Didn't know you're quite a jester. Anyways, Back to the question... I think Fruit Yogurt would probably be my favorite. Don't misunderstand, I'm not on a diet or anything. Being a Athlete is enough to maintain my shape, but hey the nutritional values are just a bonus.

"Figured." Hiccup says casually. Yep, She's definitely the though girl kind. Definitely his type... Just like Camicazi... Urk. He really should stop right now.

"So... Yogurt huh?"

"Definitely Yogurt. Are you expecting me to answer Red Velvet Cupcakes or Some overprice branded deserts or Heck, maybe even Nutella." Astrid says, amused.

Hiccup snorts in response. "Why not? I can definitely picture you with those in your instagram accounts and some overused hashtags #foodporn."

"Hel no!" Astrid cringes, they stare at each other's face before they laughed in agreement.

After a few moments, they finally calmed down and it was all awkward tension again but at least it was not as bad as a pregnant pause.

"I think we're both ready for the next question." Hiccup decides to break the silence.

They continued the game asking basic question, learning about each other more, For every question being asked the tension also lightens and soon enough both of them were comfortable enough to talk like friends. They had found a lot of similarities and yet they were completely opposite at the same time. It feels like something between them just clicked and before they knew it they were just having continuous conversation as if they weren't playing the questions game.

Once Astrid is done answering Hiccup's last question, both of them stared at each other's eye, none of them breaking the gaze. Green meets Blue and Blue meets Green. They both felt like they were under some sort of magic spell slowly pulling them both closer, leaning forward to meet halfway. Just a few more moments or inches away, their lips almost met until Stoic's booming voice from the living room broke the spell.

* * *

 **So how was it? Feel free to leave a review or message so we can talk about it.**

 **Writing is so hard... I already missed writing one-shots when I don't have to meet any deadlines for updating chapter or anything. But I needed to step-out of my comfort zone if I want to improve myself... I'm not proud of it... So I just hope you guys liked it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I apologize for the very late update. A lot of things happened (good and bad). An unexpected surprise one-week vacation which was a gift from my cousin. Could have updated sooner but I'm such a messy person and I can't even focus working on a single project. Remember all the prompts I suggested on chapter 1? Yeah, still working on ALL of it. My Doc Manager is basically filled with 12392940 unfinished stories/chapters.**

 **Anyways, consider it a long chapter too make up for the late update... Shorter than I planned but figured that If i were to close out the chapter like I planned to it's gonna be somewhere 10kish words.**

 **There might be some errors, I don't have time to triple check and I don't have any proof-readers either. So bear with me. :)**

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Disclaimer: I don't own How to train your Dragon.

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 **Chapter 3**

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Hiccup is feeling restless... and bored. But mostly restless.

Hiccup continuously paces around the room making a mess with a bag of flaming hot cheetos on his hand.

He tries to calm down, sit down on the couch grab a handful of cheetos and shove it in his mouth only to stand up again and continue his aimless pacing and ends up in his bed trying to sleep it through and to find out he can't sleep - so he stands up and repeat the whole process all over again.

 _Images of Astrid's pink lip came to his mind... A phantom sensation of her soft lips ghosting over his'_... _How close he was to tasting it..._

 _Her bright smile which never failed to make him do the same._ _Her golden blonde hair which even makes Camicazi's strawberry blonde pale in comparison._

Th-That was a first... He was comparing Astrid to Camicazi not the other way around. He groans trying to rid his head of the idea.

Gods! When was the last time he felt this restless... as if he was back to hunting troll as his dad liked to call it... and images of Astrid and memories of yesterday isn't really helping calm him down.

Well, thinking about it too much isn't really gonna help.

Hiccup flops down the couch, scanning the room looking for something, anything to distract himself and his eyes lands on his main television.

The news... He doubt's there are any updates for the news today.

KBS World... he doesn't feel like watching K-drama at the moment. He also makes a mental note to be wary with his channels when Astrid is around... It's really one of his secret fascinations that he's really into K-drama or Koreanovelas but don't be mistaken... Him subscribing to KBS world doesn't mean he likes K-pop... Gods he can't stand those.

Moving on... He wonders what else is there to do with the Television... Netflix... maybe but he just binged watched all thirteen episodes of RTTE season 3 in one seating and it's still until January 2017 before he gets to watch the new season.

Video games... He basically reached Platinum Trophy in all of his games. His Playstation 4 is basically a decoration right now with the lack of games being developed this gaming season.

Hiccup is officially bored.

Hiccup lets out a long-drawn sigh. His eyes wanders at the glass walls on the far side of the room, A tiny sliver of the unusually bright sunlight coming through the glass reaches his face like a revelation coming to his mind.

The Outside World.

Hiccup stands up making his way to the farside of the room, stopping in front the glass walls, in full view of the outside. He stretches all of his limbs fully. Oh, that felt good. Hiccup groans in relief. He didn't know his limbs were sore from all the pacing he did.

The weather outside is pleasant judging the way the sun shines brightly, sky so blue barely covered by the clouds, and falling leaves getting blown by the gentle breeze which was like the icing to the cake complementing the scenery.

For some reason, he feels like it would be actually nice to step outside of the four corners of his room once in a while for a change. Maybe there is more to the world out there that his solitary comfort zone can provide.

Maybe next time... For now he's not sure if he can handle being out by himself with a million people outside who's gonna be watching his every move and... Okay he's not yet ready for that... for now he's just gonna enjoy the bright day.

But he has completely no _Idea_ how he's gonna do just that.

He turns around facing his room once again, his eyes landing on one of the Lazyboy couches.

Maybe he could just watch the scenery until he gets tired of it.

So decides to drag one of the Lazyboy couches in the room settling it in front of the Glass walls. Before he seats downs, it felt like something was missing and felt off.

Aha! The curtains!

He decides to fold the curtains covering the glass walls completely to side, giving him a full panoramic view off the scenery.

After he was done moving the curtains, he notices his old acoustic guitar leaning on the wall covered by the curtain before. He runs his finger through the strings and notices it collected a quite amount of dust from how grey his finger got. How long has it been since he last played the guitar that he actually forgot he had one.

Without thinking, His hands strums the guitar causing all the accumulated dust fly all over his face making him snooze. That, was stupid of him and now his face feels itchy and his eyes are now irritated.

"Toothless!" Hiccup while rubbing his irritated eyes, calls out Toothless who is probably lazing in a corner, "Do you think you could do me a favor?" Toothless only uses his paw to cover his face obviously still annoyed at him with all his pacing earlier.

"Oh... come on. Can you help me out just this time.. please?" Toothless only continues to look disinterested by chewing his gums boredly.

"I see... Too bad I was about to," Hiccup pulls out a treat from his pocket. "Reward a someone for being such a good dog... I guess better luck next time." And there goes Toothless faster than the speed of sound immediately by his side, on his polite sitting position, cute puppy eyes, tail wagging vigorously and his infamous smile which got him his name.

"What are you looking at?" Hiccup taunts Toothless, turning around to face the glass wall, feigning while not so obviously teasing the dog with the treat on his hand.

Toothless being a spoiled dog, tries to sneakily steal the treat from his hand but Hiccup knew Toothless too well and moves his hand just barely out of his reach.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa. What do you think you're doing? Down." Hiccup commands, Toothless grumbles giving him a stink eye but follows his order anyway. "Did you honestly think that you're going to get a treat that easily?" Toothless huffs, looking away - pouting.

"What!? You're pouting you big baby boo..." Toothless pouting intensifies, "Oh... come on, no fair bud you know I can't resist all that." Hiccup tries his best not to give in and there comes his very cute big green puppy eyes. "Fine... you win - Maybe we can work this out okay." Hiccup throws his arms in submission. "You get me a face towel and I'll give you the treat for being a good boy. Deal?"

Toothless appears to be struggling with his eyes shifting between the treat on Hiccup's hand and Hiccup's face. Toothless tilts his head slightly which Hiccup assumed to be a shrug before the dog starts moving toward one of the cabinet. His eyes lingered on Toothless a few seconds just to be sure the dog won't be pulling any fishy- Doggy Business or whatever before he picks up the guitar by its neck as he heads towards the Lazyboy couch.

He feels Toothless nudging him on the legs with the requested face towel on hanging on his mouth so that It won't get drenched with his drool. It never fails to amaze him seeing Toothless' intelligence... He suspect the dog might even be smarter than your average jock.

"You never fail to impress me bud." Hiccup compliments, giving Toothless a well-deserved pat and ear scratching. Hiccup sets the guitar on his lap aside, propping it to lean on the arm rest. His hand reaches forward to grab the towel but Toothless pulls it back giving him a knowing look which is basically 'Hand me over the treats first'. Okay, he might be a little too smart. Smartass Puppy.

"Yeah, yeah. Here's the treat." Hiccup wave the treats with his fingers and Toothless jumps into the couch invading his lap dropping the towel before he eats the treat in Hiccup's hand in a single bite then proceeds to licking his face obviously trying to squeeze more treats from Hiccup.

"Nope. You're not getting anymore from me." Hiccup pulls his face aways from Toothless. Erk... as if all the dust from the guitar wasn't irritating face and now he's covered in dog saliva. Hiccup picks up that face towel from his lap rubbing the dusts and dog saliva of his face.

"You know that doesn't wash out." Hiccup grumbles eyeing Toothless annoyingly, The dog gets off his lap, making a snorting sound which is basically a Dog version of laughing at him.

After he was done wiping his face, His eyes land on the guitar again. He picks it up, placing it on his lap again using the Face Towel to carefully wipe the dusty guitar clean. Satisfied with his work, Hiccup straightens up, crossing his legs as he positions the Guitar on top of it. He places his right hand on frets while the other the guitar strings, Tilting his head so that his ears is closer to the soundhole, closing his eyes in concentration before he plucks the E string.

Just as expected... It was out of tune. But nothing he can't fix, so he begins fiddling with the Tuning pegs one by one starting from the top _E_ then _A_ then _D_ then _G_ then _B_ and finally _E_ string. He gives it one final strum the sound of the strings reverberating in his ears. There you go... all cleaned and up tuned.

Hiccup starts pressing his fingers on the guitar strings, A little stingy sensation on the tip of his fingers as he tries to form a chord. Not playing the guitar for months does that... He plays the basic chords one by one making a screeching sound not being able to do it properly. Toothless who was now curling on his feet lets out a grumble of distaste at the horrible sounds he's making.

"Sorry bud, My fingers are not moving like they used to... Just give me a moment to practice and you'll get to listen to you favorite song. But for now bear with me."

Hiccup continues to practice playing weakly, barely making a sound trying not to make screeching noise whenever his finger stumbles. Completely engrossed with the guitar he continues to play for an hour now, his fingers are getting used to the sensation of the metal string and his muscle memory starts to kick in every time he tries to between the frets.

He starts to feel more confident with his playing as begins playing random medleys and ad libs. He starts increasing the volume of the guitar by playing louder, strings pressed harder, and finger plucking more precise and faster. His body began to follow the beat as his head starts shaking and banging slightly, fingers starts tapping and slapping, and his stomping turning into drum beats, by now he is completely absorb by the feeling of adrenaline pumping in his blood and the state of feeling high with the melody.

With one final strum, Hiccup ended the jam with a bang. "Whoo, Man that felt good!"

"So what do you say bud, Do you think I'm good? Of course I am." Toothless seems to agree with him, looking at him expectantly with his tail wagging, ears perked up and a look that Toothless gives him whenever he wants something more.

"Fine, fine. I promised didn't I. So... John Powell, That's our favorite jam right bud?" Toothless nods back him happily.

 _(Play Forbidden Friendship, Test Drive, and Romantic Flight fingerstyle.)_

* * *

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.

At times like this... Astrid couldn't really blame Hiccup choosing to shut inside his room all day.

It's just that everyone, everything is just sooo frustrating, tiring and irking annoying today.

Funny how just a couple of days ago Astrid was dreading this particular job and now... What Astrid wouldn't give for a quiet, peaceful, easygoing, stress-free time and maybe with someone particular in her mind as a company.

It basically started with her mom initiating one of those not-so-sermon-lectures one that gets Astrid on her toes, thinking, reflecting every single action she did for the relevant time thinking if she'd been a bad girl? did she do anything wrong, missed anything to suddenly have her Mother giving her that knowing look. And it turns out... Astrid didn't do anything at all... She's completely innocent but Mothers being a Mother already knows something is going before she even understands it herself.

"So you mind telling me who is he, dear?" Her Mother hums the question as soon as she sat down on the breakfast table.

Astrid felt her body instinctively stiffens at her mother's tricky gentle tone before she could actually absorb the question. Of course, Astrid felt confused at the question before images of an green-eyed messy auburn hair boy came to her mind...

Could it be that...Did her mother know about her situation? Her job? Hiccup?

Astrid didn't really inform her mother about getting a job. She didn't want them being all suddenly worried, concerned about her plus she also prefers not having both her parents on her tail. And she couldn't just tell her parents that she needs the money to pay for her tuition fees... Not that their family is broke or anything maybe not as rich as the Haddocks but The Hofferson family owns a small law firm and is quite capable of living a comfortable life with a bit of luxury every now and then. But chose to live humbly so that they have the financial freedom or backing when the time comes they would suddenly need money.

Astrid just hates the idea being a burden to in every way even if technically it's her parent's responsibility to provide for her needs and some wants... She always prides herself being a strong independent person. Which led to what some people would prefer to call her boring, no-fun or as Ruffnut would love to call 'Single' but for Astrid she would rather call herself 'Independent'.

Her mother as if magically reading her thoughts. "Astrid dear, You know you can always tell me-"

"-Nono. Mum. Really nothings wrong... Yes, Everything is perfectly fine." Astrid interjects, her hands waving frantically.

Her mother raises a brow, "Are sur-"

"Yes! I'm sure." Astrid answers too quickly, then she slaps her forehead with her palm realizing that she might as well gave it all away with the way she not-so-obviously acts. But she didn't expect what her Mother would have told her next.

"Who is he dear? Do you plan on introducing him to us? Or are you pregnant? Do I need to talk to you father? Do we have to kill someone?"

"W-What makes you say that!" Astrid feels her cheeks getting hotter. She's not sure if this is better or worse though. Her secret is safe but... _This_. It's just plain embarrassing. She's not known as Astrid the Untouchable Valkyire or Shieldmaiden ever since Middle school for a reason. Did her mother of all person seriously think that she... with a boy or rather a man. When all she's done is be responsible, work hard, and strive to be the best for the sake of the family.

"Mother's intuition, dear." Her mother smiled warmly, gently placing a hand on top of her left shoulder. "Maybe, a little bit of the way your face glowed red yesterday might have given me some ideas."

What does she mean by that? Her Mom's intuition has always been on point. Could it be that she actually has feeling for Hiccup that she hasn't realized. Nope. Impossible. Beside as soon as they were over the case they are probably gonna go on live with their lives and not likely to meet each other again. For some reason her stomach felt suddenly acidic... She must be hungry for breakfast.

"Seriously Mom. There's nothing going on. I'm just a little stressed with college." Astrid says, firmly this time. Well, it's true it is about college after that's been bugging her mind... Not Hiccup Haddock. Definitely college and payments.

"Okay, So He's a college student someone your age." Her mother comments.

"Mom! I sai-"

"You know... You remind me of my younger self." Her mother muses, sighing.

Astrid was about to interject but her mother gave her the Matriarchal look before she could form words. "You know dear... There's no shame in falling in love."

Her mother starts delving stories how she thought of being an independent woman all her life. Until she met his father, Her father who was a very pretty boy during his prime and there she goes from being a toughest warrior to a soft princess who can't wait to be with her prince charming. From the moment she got to know her Father... Her mother just knew she would be spending her life with him.

Apparently her mother told her it runs in the blood too... Her Grandmother, Mother, Aunts, Sisters were all the same... How they never really pay attention to men, to those poor clueless inferior creatures until they fall for that single man.

Astrid is not having any of it. So as soon as she is done with her breakfast, She immediately escapes the breakfast table and leave before her Father and Brothers could join the conversation.

The problem is.. The idea already made it to her brain and now she is stuck thinking about whatever her mother told her and now she can't even focus on everything. Her head is basically now filled with Hiccup. His damned green eyes, his nasally voice, his awkward posture, her cute adorable prom picture which she is currently holding and now she's almost let out a giggle. Like Hel, Astrid Hofferson does not giggle.

As if her Mother is not enough... Then there goes Ruffnut.

"So you coming to party with me tonight?" Really? That's the first word her bestfriend is gonna say to her after they haven't met for the whole day. Not even _Hey, Astrid how is it going?_ But it's Ruffnut what did she expect at times, Astrid is actually glad of her friends non-chalance but she really could use a friend right now - with how messy things are going in her head.

Well, whatever. Astrid shrugs, sighing in resignation. "Sorry, I can't... I have made plans already and have something more important than partying to do."

"Really? There are things more important than partying in college?" Ruffnut looks at her with disbelieving, throwing her arms in the air.

"Yes, Ruff. Things life degrees, responsibilitie-"

"-And pretty boys." Ruffnut interrupts her, then scratches her chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm. Maybe Eret, son of Eret. But it's definitely a close one."

Astrid can't help but roll her eyes. "You see Ruff. That's why you always come begging me for help every midterms, prelims, or, finals." Astrid says, exasperated.

"I could say the same to you... Okay I don't have anything to say. I'm all empty. I got nothing o you." Ruffut admits, before scoffing. "No wonder you're still single."

"Independent." Astrid corrects her. "It's not like I'm looking for one... "

"Why are you even my Bestfriend? You're so boooriiiiing... and you're even worse this week. You haven't even spent a single afternoon to hang-out with me." Ruffnut says, seriously before looking at Astrid hard.

Very hard. As if Ruffnut was trying to decipher her or something that Astrid starts to feel naked under her looks. Being her lifelong bestfriend, Astrid knew the way Ruffnut eyes glinting devilishly just now.

"Unless... You're seeing some Hottie that I don't know about." Ruffnut adds.

Astrid didn't really absorb her statement. Until flashes of a certain Auburn Haired, Green eyed, and Freckled Face boy starts invading her mind again. Again.

"Oooooh. You're hesitating. Something is definitely going on." Ruffnut cackles, grinning madly. Astrid glares at her which only makes it worse.

"Ooooo... Yes! YES! I know that look. IT's Definitely that look-"

"I- I AM not seeing someone!" Astrid tries to shut her up but her voice almost falters, her cheeks suddenly hotter, and her brain back to shambling mess just like the whole day. This is bad. Ruffnut definitely sniffed something.

"And besides, we're just friends. Really, friends." Astrid blurts out, her eyes widening immediately clamping her mouth with both her hands.

Ruffnut throws her arms in victory. "You said it! You said it yourself! I never mentioned anything _specific._ " Ruffnut says, gleefully.

"So who is he? When do I meet him! Oh gods... He definitely has to be at least 9/10 on the _Hottieometer_ if he somehow manages to _penetrate the Shield... maiden._ " Ruffnut continues to assault her with her brow vulgar wiggling thing.

"-Ruff! -You know what this conversation is over and I have to go. See you and have fun with your party."

* * *

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"Ah. There you are Lass." Stoick stands up from his sit, to greet her in a excited manner. She notices how Stoick seems to be extra cheerful today. His face was grinning ear to ear as and his eyes glowing very bright.

Astrid bows her head slightly in respect, before smiling back at him. "I take it, Something good has happened, Sir."

"-Stoick. You can call me Stoick." Stoick gestures to the opposite side of the table to sit in front of him. "Ahh. Yes, today is indeed a good day. Sit down, Lass."

Astrid slowly, cautiously makes her way to the table sit directly in front of Stoick. She was surprised when Stoick suddenly grabs on of her hand with both if his hands holding it in a fatherly way.

Stoick clears his throat, looking a bit sheepish which reminds her of Hiccup. "T-Thank you, lass."

Astrid looks at him confused. Why is he thanking her? "Uhm... You're welcome. I guess. But I'm afraid Sir-" Stoick gave her a gentle yet commanding look. "Stoick. That I don't remember doing anything that warrants your Thanks."

Stoick holds her hand more firmly, shaking his head in disagreement. "You've done more than enough lass. And I couldn't be more grateful to you..."

Astrid still felt confused, but decides to keep quiet - waiting for him to continue.

Stoick clears his throat once again. "My boy. Hiccup. I know how stubborn that boy is... Ever since he was a child. He's always been so different... Attention span of a sparrow, Can't stay put in one place always out there hunting for trolls or whatever ignites his curiosity." Stoick pauses for a second letting out a long-drawn sigh, opening his mouth a couple of times before closing it.

"Then one day, When He was only five-years old - His mother, my wife Val brought Hiccup with her to the park for a picnic. She wanted it to be a family day, but I got some emergency meeting back then so I couldn't join them. Not a single day in my life I wished to take back my decision." Stoick pauses for a while, eyes appears to be distant, silently grieving. This time it was Astrid who grabs his hand.

"I-I'm sorry, Lass... Where was I." Stoick smiles at him gratefully. "I was in the middle of the emergency meeting when I started getting this bad feeling in my belly. I brushed it off many times as nothing... But the little devil in my belly kept on persisting and I was starting to get worried that it was a bad premonition. Eventually, I my gut feel was screaming at me and for some reason I wanted more than nothing to be with my family in that moment." Stoick breathes another long-drawn sigh.

"So as soon as the meeting ended, I didn't think twice to use my private helicopter which was only used for special occasion. I did not want to spend a second more late away from my family. Being up in the air the phone usually disrupts the signal but when I was supposed to turn it off - Valka's number was calling. I felt a slight-relief in my chest when I saw my wife number. But when a different voiced answered the call, I was confused. I could hear there were alot of siren noise in the background and when I heard a Boy's loud crying in the background..." Stoick blows a breath.

"I felt all my blood freeze. It was Hiccup's voice no matter how much distorted it was I recognized it. From that moment I knew my gut was right... There had been a car accident. Worse I could have prevented it if I chose to follow my gut, But I guess Hiccup got his stubbornness from me. The Helicopter had to emergency land on the park-" Stoick voice cracks. "M-My wife. My dearest dear. Val. She had a smile on her face even if her body was laying there lifeless in the middle of the road. And Hic.." Stoick chokes over his voice.

"Hiccup a very young bright child had to witness it all and I wasn't even there by his side. Hiccup was there even when his left leg was mangled from the accident, He kept crawling desperately clinging on his mother's body..." Stoick had to cough violently, keeping the tears forming in his eyes at bay. "Odin knows how Hiccup blamed himself for the accident and that was the last time I ever saw him cry. No boy ever deserves to experience that... I could only imagine what it's like to be him."

There was a minute of silence, Astrid still didn't understand how is this related to Stoick being grateful to her but decided to keep on listening.

"I'm sorry... I got too emotional there... You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all these lass." Astrid nods.

"Hiccup's always been a strong boy. I guess it has something to do with guilt from the accident. The problem is he is too strong that he doesn't want to admit needing help even if he is hurting inside and worse is that unlike most people he is not capable of crying it out. No wonder he suddenly shut himself out."

"Listen." Stoick says, gesturing to the air, finally has the bright smile on his face again. Astrid focuses her ears on the air, there was a weak sound of guitar playing in the background.

"Someone's playing the guitar." Astrid states, her voice neutral.

"Aye... Today, when I came back... I thought I was hearing things... Probably gone mad and desperate to see my Boy smile again. It's been a long time since I last heard Hiccup played the guitar."

"That's Hiccup?" Astrid asks, genuinely surprised.

Stoick nods, his face brimming brightly. "Hiccup playing the guitar could only mean one thing. He's happy. And as a father I could not ask anything more than my Boy to be happy. I tried to help him but he won't let me... I don't know what you did but I'm very grateful to you, Lass."

"I-I don't know what to say... I'm just doing my job..." Astrid says, feeling confused and somehow a weird feeling starts to form in her chest at the thought she could possibly the reason why Hiccup is happy.

"I doubt that." Stoick shrugs. "I know how Hiccup managed to drive away every single person who tried to help him. You could have done the same... Mind your own business and get payed double."

"Astrid. You're a good lass, a pure-hearted one. Your parent's should be proud of you. It would nice to have a future daughter-in-law like you." Astrid felt her cheeks blush a little at the compliment.

"I-I think Hiccup's waiting for me!" Astrid blurts out standing from the sit, bowing her head respectfully to bid farewell.

"Aye Lass, Good talk. I've held you long enough... I'm pretty sure my Boy's been waiting for you all day. He's been pacing all day in his room that I can hear his footsteps from here." Stoick winks at her. She pretends not to see that as she made her way to the second floor - to Hiccup's room.

Astrid's heart was still beating furiously just as she stops in front of Hiccup's room.

Why is she feeling like this? She doesn't understand the tight sensation in her chest paired with the light tinglings running through the edge of her fingers making her ball her fist tightly when her mind gets the idea of Hiccup.

It's something she never felt before... And worse she knew it's not something she can deal with the usual Astrid Hofferson way with her good ol' straightforward ways; Punch first and ask questions later.

Everyone seems to be getting ideas that she was:

In love? Hel No, it's too early for that... Wait, what? did she just consider that it might be possible...

Attracted to some pretty boy... she was not sure herself... She never looked at Hiccup that way and Gah... now she remembers how distracted she was the whole day with her mind filled with a green eyed, auburn hair, freckled face boy that almost got her in trouble.

What's wrong with everybody putting ideas in her head. Her Mom, Ruffnut, and, Stoick. The not-so-lecture mother talk, Ruffnut's usual vulgar insinuation stepping up, and Stoick throwing hints of Future Daughter-in-law and... Can it be possible that Hiccup was really waiting for her all day? The thought somehow made her heart leap a little... Just a little. Nope. It didn't leap she was just happy for him that he is happy.

And maybe she's just Overreacting. That's all... it's just stress from everything College, money, and now this. Somehow Astrid finds herself missing Hiccup's room all of a sudden. Stay there all day, just the two of them with usual talks, playing tekken, watching avengers. She learned a few things about Hiccup when they played that stupid twenty-questions game which she thought was a brilliant idea that they almost... Oh thor. They almost kissed!

None of them really brought it up so far. When she talks with Hiccup, it was just he's a gentle, sweet person - a good listener. Maybe a little bit too much snark and sarcasm but she's confident that it's nothing her own sass can't handle.

As soon as her hand makes a contact with the codl steel of the Door Knob. Her hearts starts beating furiously again. She's suddenly nervous, feeling self-conscious. She digs her phone in her pocket, unlocking it very fast with muscle memory and her finger taps the Camera icon. She uses the front camera as a mirror to make sure she looks okay... More than okay.

Astrid takes a couple of deep breathes, placing her palm on her chest to calm it down. She puts up her casual face - chanting; You are Astrid Hofferson before she finally twists the door knob and open the only thing between her and Hiccup.

* * *

 **Not how I planned how it was supposed to close out. So how was it? Feel free to PM me or Leave a review.**


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